Hidden In Plain Sight
by Catflower Queen
Summary: Wherein Uxie takes his role as the Being of Knowledge the slightest bit more seriously, and an offer to help Laura with her amnesia leads to the Wigglytuff Guild taking temporary custody of the Time Gear of Fogbound Lake. Grovyle is not amused. Also, Chatot contemplates instituting a minimum age for admittance into the Wigglytuff Guild.
1. The Mystery of Fogbound Lake

"I shall not take away your memories of this place. You have earned my trust. But I must ask that you keep this place a secret," Uxie declared, to the relief of the Wigglytuff Guild whose members gathered by the lake shore, drinking in its stunning sights. Sure, after seeing what exactly the treasure of Fogbound Lake was they all completely understood why the Being of Knowledge resorted to such extreme measures in the first place in order to protect it, and in the back of their minds they had already resigned themselves to losing some of their memories in order to help protect the Time Gear… but the sight of the lake before them really was beautiful, and it would have been a shame to lose such precious memories. But just before Guildmaster Wigglytuff was about to open his mouth to give his assurances that his guild would keep their silence, as well as to give thanks to Uxie for his generosity, the Being of Knowledge spoke again.

"Speaking of memories, however… I do believe we have some unfinished memories in regards to yours, Laura," he said, surprising everyone present, if not for quite the same reasons.

"Huh? But I thought that you said you didn't know anything about what caused her memory loss?" Paula asked.

"That is true," Uxie confirmed, completely ignoring everyone else's confusion and sudden intakes of shock over this bit of knowledge about their friend. "But as I was about to say before the rest of your fellow guildmates appeared… while I have, lately, been more focused on _erasing _memories, it is also possible for me to help people _regain_ them as well." Upon seeing the dual hopeful looks that started to spring up on Team Rainbow's faces, he hastened to add, "It is not always foolproof, as memories and the mind are complex things. Depending on the actual cause of your friend's amnesia, it may not be possible for me to do much. Laura's unique circumstances in regards to her species might also complicate things."

"That's perfectly all right!" Paula exclaimed. "Any little bit would be a big help. Right, Laura?"

But before the treecko had the chance to give her opinion, Loudred interjected, loudly demanding "WHOA, WHOA, WHOA! Just… HOLD ON there for a second. What… what are you TALKING about? Laura has AMNESIA? Since WHEN?"

Laura blinked at this before cringing a bit and blushing upon realizing that she'd never actually shared this piece of information with any of the other guildmembers. "Um… Ever since I met Paula," she confessed.

"Yeah," Paula gave a nervous chuckle, sheepishly rubbing her neck, "that's actually why she agreed to form an exploration team with me in the first place—I thought that since the Wigglytuff Guild was so well known and had so many resources, you might be able to help her figure out her past."

"…And the reason you never informed us of this so that we _could_, actually try and help you with this is because…?" Chatot asked, his eye developing a mild twitch at the fact that, first of all, this pair of recruits had neglected to inform anyone of the serious issues that were plaguing Laura, and, secondly, that this neglect occurred in spite of the hope for help being one of their main goals for joining in the first place.

"I mean… we were really busy settling in those first few days… and then there was that whole thing with Azurill… and then by that point it just felt kind of… awkward, I guess?" Paula shrugged, a blush rising to her face as well.

"Especially since you didn't seem to know much about the _other_ issue I had, when I asked," Laura added quietly.

"What 'other issue?'" Diglett asked.

"Indeed, what could be a more pressing issue than the fact that you have amnesia?" his father inquired.

Wigglytuff, meanwhile, who was just as surprised as everyone else by this turn of events but was trying to be a bit more rational, for once—as he realized that this explained a _lot_ about some of the more concerning things he'd noticed about his precious apprentice, and was trying to do some preliminary planning on what he could do to help her once they got back home, especially if Uxie _wasn't_ able to help her retrieve any of her memories—suddenly recalled a conversation the guild had participated in shortly after Team Rainbow's first major exploration. "Oh! Does it have something to do with humans?" he asked.

That jogged Chatot's memories, which he had been searching through in an attempt to recall any questions Laura had asked him recently that he hadn't been able to answer that seemed particularly strange or out of the ordinary at the time. "Ah, yes!" he exclaimed. "Thank you for the reminder, Guildmaster! If I recall correctly… you and Paula were curious about their stories, yes? Specifically, if there were any about humans who were turned into—" he cut the thought off as something suddenly clicked, and then he sputtered, "SQUAWK! Wh-what?! You _can't_ be serious! Are you… are you _seriously_ trying to imply that Laura, our Laura who is _obviously_ a treecko, at one point used to be a _human_?!"

"_WHAT?!" _the remaining guildmembers, sans Paula, Laura, and Wigglytuff, screamed. "_YOU USED TO BE_ HUMAN_?!_"

Laura rubbed her arm nervously as she gave a quiet affirmation.

This just shocked everyone even more. "But… how is that POSSIBLE?!" Loudred demanded. But then he, too, recalled that conversation and remembered something that Croagunk had brought up during it in regards to legends about humans. "Unless… did Laura maybe PULL on a ninetales' TAIL?"

"Oh my gosh, Loudred, how could you even _think _something like that?" Sunflora demanded, sounding affronted on her friend's behalf. "No _way_ would Laura do something that cruel!"

"But how would we even KNOW?" Loudred asked, his face becoming pinched as he actually stopped for a moment to contemplate the possibility. He suddenly turned his gaze towards Laura, and she cringed under the scrutiny. "If you REALLY don't remember anything about your past, then for all we, OR _you_, know… maybe you actually WERE a really mean person!"

Sunflora and Chimecho gasped in shock at his audacity, and Paula's expression became enraged. But before she had the chance to lay into him, Dugtrio barked out "Loudred! That is crossing a line! Apologize to Laura at once!"

"I—" Loudred looked around at the disappointed faces of his fellow apprentices and superiors, cringing when he saw the unhappy frown on Wigglytuff's face, and then cringing even harder when he saw that Laura had withdrawn even further into herself than usual and was clutching her arm tightly in a trembling grip. "I—that's—ugh… You're RIGHT. That was WAY out line… I'm really, REALLY sorry, Laura."

"Well, whether she had the capacity for that sort of thing or not, we can definitely confirm—without even having to look into her memories, actually—that Laura was _not_ the human in that particular legend," Uxie suddenly piped up, making many of the assembled jump slightly in surprise, as they had momentarily forgotten his presence. He seemed rather amused by the whole situation, really. "Despite there being many iterations of that particular legend, all of them do share the same detail in common: the human was to be _reborn_ as a pokémon. This implies that after spending an entire life as a human, they would then die and reincarnate—and it is this reincarnation which would be a pokémon. In Laura's case, however, she was born a human and then changed into a pokémon during _this_ lifetime. Therefore, she does not fit the requirements set by this specific legend," he explained. Sunflora crossed her leaves and raised a brow at Loudred in an "I-told-you-so" sort of way, and he shrunk back under the scrutiny.

"Furthermore," Uxie added, "it's my experience that when memory loss is involved, it typically does not result in drastic personality changes. Therefore, if your friend's current attitude and demeanor indicates that she is incapable of that sort of cruelty, then it is highly likely that this held true in the past as well. If there _was_ some sort of major personality difference, then it indicates a much larger problem." He then gave everyone a moment to absorb that information, taking special of note of Laura and ensuring that she was able to regain a bit of her confidence before he switched back to the actual matter at hand. "In any case… as I was trying to explain, the fact that your natural species is a human might complicate things in regards to how much help I can ultimately give you. Though, that is not so much because you were a human, but more because it is unclear what caused you to switch species in the first place."

Laura gave a slow, thoughtful nod. It made perfect sense… though it also made her a little nervous. What if he couldn't restore all of her memories? It would be one thing if he just couldn't help at all—a bit disappointing, maybe, but it would ultimately leave her no worse off than she already was—but given how maddening it was to be in this place, and to have these vague feelings of familiarity with no clear explanation as for why… if a partial recall led to such scenarios becoming even more common, then she thought that might actually be _worse_. But at the same time… it really _did_ bother her that she couldn't remember anything about her past, even if she didn't express those sentiments too often. Or at all, really, since no one else outside of Paula had any clue there was even an issue until today.

Wigglytuff noticed her nervousness. "It's okay if you don't want to do this, Laura," he told her, moving to be closer to her. He placed his hands on her shoulders, and looked directly into her eyes. "Whether you get your memories back or not, you're still our friendly-friend, and we'll always do our best to support you," he assured her, giving her shoulders a comforting squeeze.

"Yes," Uxie agreed. "It is entirely your decision whether you want me to try and use my powers or not; memories are intensely personal things, and the process would still be rather invasive, even though I would be trying to help you regain your memories, rather than take them away. Also: even if you do decide that you would rather forgo my help at the moment… that doesn't mean you can't change your mind and return at a later date."

Laura took a moment to think it over. "I think…" she paused, taking in everyone's encouraging faces. Then she took in a deep breath to steady herself, and declared, "I think I _do_ want you to try. Even if it turns out that you can't help much… I think I would regret it if I didn't at least make the attempt."

Uxie nodded. "Very well. In that case, I suggest that you sit down—the process shouldn't hurt, but it might leave you a bit dizzy, or disoriented."

Laura nodded, and Wigglytuff pulled her into a brief hug before he helped her settle on the ground. Uxie floated over and placed his hands on her temples. "Close your eyes," he instructed her. Once she complied, he continued, "I will begin on the count of three. One… two… three."

At that, his eyes, though still shut, began to glow slightly, and Laura's expression became a little pinched. But neither of them made a sound. The members of the Wigglytuff Guild waited with baited breath, but as the minutes ticked by with nothing happening, they began getting a bit restless. Before anyone could say something to break the silence, however, Uxie gave a small "Hm," and lifted his hands from Laura's head. Laura, in turn, scrunched her face up even more before relaxing and blinking her eyes open, her expression a bit dazed.

"So… did it work?" Corphish asked, looking between the two of them. The other apprentices were eager to know as well… but their hearts sank when Laura frowned and gave a disappointed shake of her head.

"Unfortunately, I was unable to uncover any concrete memories," Uxie informed the crowd. Their hearts sank even more, and they tried to prepare themselves to give him thanks for trying, or to comfort Laura over the failure, but before they could, Uxie said something else which brought a bit of hope back. "However, that in itself, Laura, gives me some clues to your past."

"R-Really? That's great! Paula exclaimed. "What does it tell you?"

"First, I should explain a bit what I look for when I delve into someone's mind," Uxie said, settling down on the ground himself so that he would be more comfortable while he explained. He waited for everyone else to follow suit before continuing, "When I delve into someone's mind to manipulate their memories, I typically don't do so with intent to pry—even when my goal is to erase memories of Fogbound Lake, I try not to look beyond the surface level since, frankly, it isn't any of my business. So, what I do instead is to search for certain impressions which I either draw closer to the surface to make them easier to look at, or push farther back into the subconscious, rendering them nearly inaccessible. In truth… when I erase someone's memories, I typically don't actually _remove_ them so much as I simply push the contents down deep within their minds," he admitted. "After all, it is far more likely that people would become suspicious and attempt to come back and search the area if there was actually a chunk of their memories missing, rather than if they still retained some memory of an exploration, but no memories of actually reaching Fogbound Lake."

"I see! So, then they would assume that they really had searched everywhere, but just hadn't been able to find anything, right?" Chimecho guessed.

"Correct," Uxie affirmed, a proud grin on his face. "And this is typically the case with amnesiacs as well—it isn't that their memories are _gone_, it's just that they are inaccessible for some reason. Typically, what I would see in these instances is a sort of… fog, almost." He paused here, considering something, and then gave an amused shake of the head. "It's actually a little like Fogbound Lake, in a way—the mental fog obscures the paths that one would typically use to find and access their memories, much like the fog here obscures access to the path one needs to take in order to reach the Time Gear. So what I do in this sort of situation is to, essentially, clear away the fog of one's mind."

"But if you couldn't do that this time, then what does it mean for Laura?" Paula asked, glancing between Uxie and her partner—who actually seemed more interested in the explanation on the mechanics of memory retrieval than disappointed that it hadn't worked for her.

"In Laura's case… there really isn't any fog to sift through," Uxie shrugged. "There is a little bit, yes, and some dim impressions and recollections—which is likely why you felt this place was familiar to you—but for the most part… the area of your mind where memories are stored is just… blank. As if it was empty, or locked behind some sort of impenetrable door."

"If that's the case, then… hey, hey! How does that give you any clues to her past?" Corphish wondered.

"Ah, because you see… this is not the first time I have come across such a condition in humans."

Paula frowned. "But… hold on a minute. Uxie, didn't you say that humans had never come to the lake before? If that's the case, then how…?"

"I see your confusion, but while it is true that humans have never come here, that doesn't mean I've never met any—it simply means that in order to interact with the ones I know of, it meant that I had to leave my lake for a while. I actually used to visit with a group of them fairly regularly, but something changed roughly a millennia ago and I haven't really gone out much since." Uxie paused here with a sigh, sounding almost nostalgic. But then he shook his head, continuing, "Ah… in any case, this particular condition is rather rare, and is typically found only in one specific… subset, shall we say."

"OH! I get it NOW! So you're saying that since Laura has the condition too… then it means SHE'S probably part of that subset!" Loudred exclaimed, feeling pleased with himself for putting all that together when Uxie nodded.

"Exactly right. Mind you, this is only a guess at this point—circumstances being what they are at the moment, and especially with the transformation, I cannot say for sure… but the probability is high."

"So… what are these people like?" Laura finally piped up and asked. "If you're right, and I was one of them… what does that mean for me?"

Uxie turned back to her, and she blinked upon seeing a bit more warmth in his expression than had been there previously. It wasn't as though he'd looked unfriendly or mean or anything, but his expression before sifting through her mind had been more placid, full of a more neutral sort of geniality.

"Well," he began, "I suppose that the most important thing would probably be—"

But he abruptly cut himself off, tilting his head in consideration and looking between her and the lake. "Hm… Now _there's_ and interesting idea… and since I'm the one doing it, it shouldn't have any negative effects…" he mumbled before turning to the group as a whole. "Please wait here for a moment," he requested.

Everyone was confused at the abrupt topic change, but readily complied. They watched as Uxie swiftly flew over towards the middle of the lake until he was right above the Time Gear… and then their jaws dropped in complete and utter shock when he suddenly ducked down beneath the water and re-emerged with the Time Gear in his arms. The light dimmed around the Time Gear's holding place, and they all looked around wildly, fearful of time stopping around them… but nothing else happened.

"There is no need for alarm," Uxie told them as he flew back to the shore, easily detecting their panic and immediately guessing its source. "I am the guardian of this particular Time Gear, so the area shouldn't experience any negative effects of time stopping so long as it is in my possession." Everyone gave a sigh of relief, and they watched curiously as he came to a stop before Laura. "That being said, however… would the Wigglytuff Guild mind doing a favor for me?"

Wigglytuff tilted his head, "A favor? Sure! We'd be glad to help you, friendly-friend! And it would only be right after all you've done to help us!"

"Good. Then… would you please hold on to this Time Gear for me?" he asked, offering the precious treasure to the treecko in front of him. Her eyes—along with everyone else's, honestly—widened in shock and she quickly backed up, holding her hands out as if to ward him away… even as a tiny part of her screamed out that she should take it from him, now, right now, she _needed_ it…!

But she didn't betray any of these inner thoughts, instead offering a breathless "Wh-_what_?!"

This exclamation was echoed by a much louder "_WHAT_?!" from Chatot. "F-Far be it for our humble guild to question your judgement, Uxie, but _why _in the _world_ would you ask us such a thing?! For us to take this Time Gear, when another has already been stolen—!"

"Yes… but that very threat is _why_ I wish you to take it with you, and protect it at your guild." That cut the panicking off short, and Uxie further explained, "The Time Gear that has already been stolen, it is the one from Treeshroud Forest. Unlike the Time Gear here at Fogbound Lake, or the one in Limestone Cavern which your esteemed guildmaster has seen," at this everyone jolted and looked to Wigglytuff in surprise—both at the fact that he'd apparently seen a Time Gear before this one and because Uxie apparently knew about it, "that particular location has no secondary defenses. There is no puzzle to solve, or guardian to best. There is only the dungeon itself, which, while perhaps a little larger than most others, is just as ordinary at it appears to be. In that sense, one could say that its best defense was the fact that the Time Gear was, essentially, hidden in plain sight."

"I see, I see… and because it is so ordinary and plain-seeming, no one would think it hid such an important treasure. As a consequence, no one would go looking for one," Dugtrio nodded, thinking the reasoning through.

Paula frowned. "In that case… isn't it possible that the thief just didn't _realize_ it was a Time Gear? I mean, I didn't know what Time Gears looked like until you told us about this one, Uxie, so if they just thought it was some other sort of treasure… then maybe everyone is worrying over nothing? I mean… the fact that it's gone is still really bad, but if it was just an accident, maybe we don't need to worry about any others being taken."

"I wouldn't count on it, meh heh heh," Croagunk shook his head. "Even if they _did_ initially take it without realizing what it was, the fact that time stopped after it was removed would have been a big tip-off that something was wrong."

"Oh, yeah, good point."

"Indeed," Uxie concurred. "That leads me to believe that someone stole it _deliberately_. And the fact that they even knew to check Treeshroud Forest in the first place…"

"…Means that it's possible they might look for others as well… and that they may already know where some are located," Wigglytuff finished for him, his face grim.

"Exactly. Which is why, if the thief does already have information on the other Time Gear locations… by moving one of them to a completely different area, it would hopefully throw them off the trail. Or, at the very least, give us more time to try and stop them," Uxie reasoned.

"Okay, I reckon I can understand that," Bidoof said, "but why choose our guild, then? We get tons of pokémon coming in and out every day… wouldn't that just make it more likely for someone to find out about it?"

"…No," Laura said quietly, the reasoning dawning on her. "Because they wouldn't expect that we had it… right? Our reputation would protect us… and also the Time Gear… because it would hidden in plain sight, just like the one in Treeshroud Forest. Right?"

Uxie smiled at her cleverness. "Indeed, and that very reputation is one of the reasons why I know I could trust you with this task. Your renown and notoriety are such that even I, who spends much of my time alone, have heard of it… and added to that, another guardian has already proved that your leader, Guildmaster Wigglytuff, is trustworthy."

"Oh, oh? You heard from Ditto?" Wigglytuff asked, growing excited at the thought of his old friend.

Uxie nodded, this time fondly as he recalled the younger pokémon. "Yes. Ditto is probably the most… _proactive_ of the guardians, seconded only by my brother, Azelf, and he always lets us know whenever someone seems to be extremely persistent in regards to finding the 'treasure' of Limestone Cavern… or, in your case, when someone actually manages to figure out the secret in its entirety."

"So, um… what's the other reason?" Chimecho asked. "You said there was more than one… right?"

"Yes," Uxie confirmed, "and that actually brings us back to you, Laura."

Laura blinked in surprise, and her partner asked, "Huh? What does Laura have to do with anything?"

"Just a moment ago, you asked what the people whom I suspect you are a part of are like… the most important thing to know about them is probably the fact that they worship a deity known as 'Relatia'… and that this deity is the one responsible for bringing the Time Gears to our world." Laura's eyes widened. "As such, if you truly _do_ belong to those people… then you would be more entitled than most to deal with the Time Gear, and to act as its protector."

"But… but you said that you weren't certain that I was actually a member of that group," Laura pointed out. "So in that case…"

Uxie merely shrugged. "In that case, my first line of reasoning still holds. But I truly _do_ believe that when you were a human, that you worshipped Relatia; it would certainly explain why this place felt familiar to you—despite never having been here before—as Relatia's people are some of the few who know the locations of the Time Gears," He allowed everyone a moment to let that sink in, before he asked again, "So, having explained all that… will you, the Wigglytuff Guild, undertake the task of guarding my Time Gear? At least until this crisis has passed?"

The guild turned towards their guildmaster, who had a serious expression on his face once more. He looked at Uxie, with his patient expression; at Laura, with an expression that was half scared, half hopeful; at the Time Gear, which, as an inanimate object, had no expression, but which still looked so vulnerable nonetheless, especially now that it was out in the open, and not surrounded by an intricate pattern of light and energy. The he looked back at Uxie, and his mouth widened into a big grin. "Of course we will, friendly-friend!"

Uxie tried to hide a sigh of relief—it wouldn't have been a big deal if Wigglytuff hadn't agreed, and he wouldn't have blamed him one bit for opting out of such an important and potentially dangerous task, but the fact that there was now this extra measure of safety in a situation as dire as this current crisis already made him feel a lot more hopeful about the situation. "In that case, this next part may be a bit tricky; while there are safeties in place that allows a Time Gear's guardian to remove it from its area with no ill consequences, it is not certain what happens when one of them willingly gives it up to another. So we all should be prepared to run as soon as this Time Gear leaves my hands."

"Understood," Chatot said, nodding decisively. Then he turned to the recruits and squawked, "Well? You heard the pokémon! Get ready to run!"

"Yes, sir!" the apprentices all cheered as they put their weight in their front feet (or whatever the equivalent action was, for those whose appendages and methods of locomotion didn't quite fit that description) and turned towards the exit—but only slightly, as they were all still supremely curious and wanted to see the actual hand off for themselves.

Uxie moved even closer to Laura, and once more offered her the Time Gear. "Are you ready, Laura?"

Laura started to reach her hands out for the precious artifact… but then she hesitated momentarily, still wary of the feelings that looking at it invoked. She took a deep breath, centering herself, before trying again. This time she was successful, and placed her hands on the Time Gear in a secure grip. It felt surprisingly warm beneath her fingers, for something which had just been residing at the bottom of a lake, and rather than feeling metallic, like she would have expected, it felt almost like… stone? But smooth stone, rather than crumbly or rough. But more than anything, it almost felt like… like it was _alive_, in a way. Or that it at least had some sort of emotional ability. Because as she stared into it, and into the light it pulsated… she could swear it emanated some sort of feeling of… joy? Relief? Holding it felt like… like she was coming _home_, for the first time in… in so, _so_ long…

Laura was so absorbed in the sensation of touching the Time Gear that she almost didn't notice when Uxie let go. Actually, she _wouldn't_ have noticed it at all if not for the unexpected weight change causing her to stumble. The Time Gear was a bit heavier than it looked, though not so heavy as one would assume based on its composition. But before she could devote any more time into inspecting it, there was a bright flash of light, and she felt a surge of energy that sent her tumbling to her knees. Luckily, though, she managed to keep her tight grip on the Time Gear. Unluckily, however, it meant that she was now in a position where she wouldn't easily be able to escape if something _did_ end up happening to the flow of time in the area. But once the light died down and she was able to blink away the spots in her vision… nothing really happened. She looked around a little, but nothing seemed to have changed. Maybe it was a bit darker in the area? But that could easily be attributed to the late hour, or the fact that most of the volbeat and illumise had finished their dances above the water and were headed home. She glanced back towards the entrance to see her fellow guild members slowly relaxing from their tensed positions and also look around in confusion.

"Hm… I suppose that was rather anticlimactic," Uxie said from in front of her, causing her to jolt in surprise and whip her head back towards him, since she hadn't realized he was there. "I'll admit, that was not what I expected to happen… but it _is_ a potentially useful situation, if someone else does end up coming here in search of the Time Gear." He floated a bit away from her, slowly turning around and taking in all the sights before turning his gaze back on the artifact in her arms. "Of course, the fact that the Time Gear is still in close proximity to the lake, despite no longer being in my possession, might be affecting things somewhat…" He hummed again before coming closer again and offering her a hand up, which she took, before leading her towards the rest of the guild. "Come—I will join you for a bit of your journey back down, in order that I might observe the effects of distance on the lake."

* * *

It was, admittedly, a little awkward to be sharing the presence with a legendary, especially one who was treating the endeavor as an almost scientific curiosity. The fact that no one really had the chance to discuss what had just happened—whether in regards to the revelations about their teammate _or_ the ramification of the task they'd just been given—didn't help much either. Although, speaking of recent events…

"So, um, Uxie… I know that you couldn't help Laura out with regaining any of her actual memories… but do you know of anything else we can do to try and help?" Paula asked on behalf of her partner—who seemed too absorbed in hugging the bag now holding the Time Gear close to her chest to pay much attention to the attempts at small talk going on around her. She'd had enough presence of mind to put it out of sight once Loudred made a joke about the possibility that she was the real Time Gear thief all along, with how much focus she was putting on it and the way she'd refused to let anyone carry it, but she hadn't noticed when Sunflora subsequently exploded on him, scolding him for the tasteless joke—especially since she hadn't let him off the hook yet for how mean he'd been to her over the whole ninetales thing.

"Hm?" Uxie replied, rather distracted, as he glanced at her from where he was floating—backwards, so that he could keep an eye on the lake as it seemed to grow smaller and smaller the farther they moved away from it. But the change in perspectives seemed to be the only change afflicting Fogbound Lake; it was otherwise perfectly normal, despite its lack of Time Gear. "Oh, right…" Uxie said once Paula's words finally registered. He tilted his head, thinking through some possibilities. "I suppose that using an aura crystal might help, but those are extremely rare. Especially lately, for some reason," he mulled things over a bit more before shaking his head. "Unfortunately, there typically isn't much that can be done about this specific condition. However… I believe in Laura's specific case that the issue will resolve itself when she's a bit older."

"Oh wow, really?" Paula asked, excited, before shaking her friend's shoulder in an attempt to get her attention. Once she caught the treecko's gaze, she smiled widely at her. "Hear that, Laura? Uxie thinks that you just need a little patience, and that you'll get your memories back when you're older!"

"Golly, that really _is_ great news!" Bidoof, who had evidently been listening in on the conversation—like most everyone else had been, actually, even if some were better at hiding the fact than others—said from Paula's other side. "How long do you reckon she'll have to wait?"

"Not too long—if my theory is correct, then things should become clearer for you once you turn thirteen."

Everything screeched to a halt.

"_What_?" Chatot asked, sounding scandalized. "What do you mean, once she _turns_ thirteen? How… how old is she _now_?"

"Based on how developed your mind seemed to be… I would estimate somewhere around ten, maybe eleven years of age. Possibly twelve, at maximum."

"WHAT?! YOU'RE ONLY _HOW_ OLD?!" everyone demanded, absolutely flabbergasted by the revelation of how young she actually was.

Everyone except Paula, however, who was significantly calmer as she said, "Huh. I thought you were a bit closer to my age, but it looks like you're actually a few years younger than me!"

Chatot's eye started to twitch. "And… dare I ask exactly how old _you_ are?" he said in a strangled voice, extremely wary of the answer.

"Thirteen," was Paula's matter-of-fact reply.

"_**WHAAAAAAAAT?!"**_


	2. Children are Precious

**A/N: If you are confused about the "Sudowoodo" thing Wigglytuff mentions in this chapter, it might be good to go back and read chapter 41, "Brutal," from _Missing Scenes_.**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Children are Precious**

The morning may have been bright and cheery, while the breeze held a pleasant coolness that could cut through even the thickest bouts of heat and humidity, but it did nothing to penetrate the tense and awkward air of Wigglytuff's quarters that morning as he and his head of intelligence attempted to act naturally and un-flustered around their youngest apprentices. For all that the two of them had made plans and preparations for this conversation during the return trip from the expedition, it was a lot different to try and implement any of them while staring the two bright hopefuls in their slightly-tired, yet still eager faces. Even Wigglytuff, usually so vibrant and at ease when talking to his recruits, was at a loss for how to start.

Luckily, though, his best friend and right-wing man was able to put his usual flustered and slightly anxious attitude towards all things pertaining to the running of the guild to good use when he finally ruffled his feathers a bit before clapping his wings together and saying, "Well, then! I'm sure the two of you are wondering why I called you in here this morning, yes?"

Paula, ever bright and eager, twitched her ears in confusion. "Huh? Didn't you call us in here to find a good hiding spot for the Time Gear?" She turned to her partner, who gripped the bag holding the Time Gear—which she hadn't set down even once since placing it inside—even tighter, as if she was reluctant even now, in the safety of the guild, to let it out of her sight for fear of something happening to it. "That's what he said when we got home last night, right, Laura? Or did I mishear that?"

Both girls turned expectantly towards Chatot, seeking confirmation, but the action only served to make the flying-type even more flustered.

"That is… er, well, yes, that is one of the reasons," Wigglytuff's closest friend and partner finally managed to stammer out. "But there's also the matter of the two of you to consider, in light of the information we learned from Uxie."

The two girls looked confused, and their expressions… well, looking at them now Wigglytuff couldn't believe he'd never realized how _young_ the two of them really were. Competent, budding explorers they may be, but the fact that they didn't—or couldn't—consider the implications behind making all of the decisions they had at such a young age… well, if anything, it certainly made Wigglytuff feel a lot more sympathy for what his parents had gone through when he was a kid, off exploring with Master Armaldo. While he would always remember his master with fondness and gratitude for all his lessons, looking back at those times now, with these two kids staring so bright-eyed and naïve in front of him, he could admit that he definitely hadn't thought things through as a kid, and his parents had been completely right to worry about what he'd been up to. But at the same time… he _had_, in his own roundabout way, told his parents and friends what he'd been doing. He could even remember one time outright _telling_ his father that he was spending the day with Master, but his father had apparently thought he'd just meant he was spending the day with a friend he "respected a great deal," or something along those lines. The most important thing that he and Chatot could do right now was to listen; while there _could_ be perfectly reasonable and innocuous reasons for the girls to have made the decisions they did… it was equally, if not more, likely that something _else_ was going on that the girls just didn't have the experience or knowledge necessary to understand the full implications of.

It wasn't really something that he wanted to consider, but… as he and his partner watched the girls sleeping at night during their trek back to the guild—because despite how good a job Bidoof and the girls had done in getting to the campsite safely, there was no way they were going to let Team Rainbow out of their sight after learning how young and vulnerable they really were, let alone when one of them currently had custody of such a precious artifact—the two of them couldn't help but compare interactions they'd had with the duo since they joined the guild and belatedly notice some dangerous red flags that popped up. Oh, Wigglytuff had definitely noticed a few _concerning_ things before, especially regarding Laura, but with the additional knowledge of their ages and Laura's species change and memory loss to consider, things that he'd initially just thought were some bigger than average stumbling blocks he and Chatot would have to help the two smooth out in order to become top-notch explorers were now suddenly blaring warning signs that something was probably _seriously_ wrong with their situation.

"I suppose we should start with the simpler—for a given value of the term—situation," Chatot said, bringing Wigglytuff out of his thoughts and back to the present moment. His friend took a fortifying breath and turned a worried gaze to the Electric-type in the room. "Paula… are things… _okay_, at home?"

Paula looked even more confused now, and shared a baffled glance with her partner. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

And, really, where _could_ they even start without upsetting her? At the fact that the Raichu-line wasn't native to the area, so she likely would have had to travel some distance before even reaching their guild, and none of the other apprentices had noticed any other pikachu or raichu in or around town on the day that Diglett first reported seeing her footprints? Or the very fact that since Diglett had admitted to seeing her footprint appear multiple times before she finally joined, despite there _still_ being no reports of her species-line in town—or, for that matter, reports of anyone from _another_ species-line who looked like they could be parents or guardians, but who did not already have their charges close at hand— it heavily implied that she had been left to fend for herself for a few _weeks_ at the very minimum? Or even the fact that—and this was an especially sickening one to worry about, but… The fact that, normally, if a pichu evolved as young as Paula had—Paula, who was already straddling the line of what was considered the minimum age for a pikachu, but who _had_ to have evolved even _younger_ considering the current issues with anyone evolving at all—when their requirements included not only experience and knowledge, but also an extremely strong bond… it implied that something had _seriously_ gone awry. Something along the lines of what the first outlaw they'd capture had attempted to do with—no, even worse than that, for he, at least, was going to return Azurill to his brother immediately after laying claim to the supposed treasure of Mt. Bristle. This was more like… Wigglytuff shuddered to think it, considering how blasé he'd been about the situation (and how, unbeknownst to him at the time, Laura did, in actuality, fit within the usual demographic perfectly) but… it was more along the lines of what Sudowoodo, the Kidnapping Mastermind, did to his victims—had _planned_ on doing to _Laura_ if she hadn't defeated him on that mission with Croagunk—if over a longer period, and with no plans for ransom.

But he supposed that Chatot had a point with starting with what was easiest. So, rather than bringing any of those possibilities to light, Wigglytuff instead offered, "We're concerned because, normally, pokémon don't join guilds until they're a few years older than you are now." Paula looked absolutely baffled at this, so Wigglytuff gave her a wry sort of smile and leaned closer, as if confiding a secret, and admitted, "Even though people call me a prodigy… I didn't start exploration work in earnest until I was at _least_ sixteen. There was that period when I was a lot younger, yes… but! Even _then_, I had Master Armaldo with me. And my parents were _super_ upset when they found out. It took a long time and a _lot_ of learning and studying before they felt okay with letting me do it again, and do it on my own. And if there had been a guild like this one nearby, they probably would have wanted me to wait even longer so I could study there first before setting off as an explorer. It _can_ be dangerous work, after all!" At that, the Balloon Pokémon nodded once and then leaned back. "So, Paula, you can see why we're a bit… worried, yes? You're our precious friendly-friend, so when we see that your parents let you leave so soon, and without—"

"But—!" Paula suddenly interrupted, looking a little shocked, "But this is the age everyone joins the guild back home!"

Wigglytuff reeled back a bit more in absolute shock. "Oh, oh?" he asked, mildly, for the sake of the child in front of him, though his anger was starting to rise at the thought that there was any guild out there taking advantage of the young like this—or, even worse, that there was a community which condoned it to the point of the practice being so widespread.

"Yeah!" Paula affirmed, nodding rapidly before suddenly wincing. "I mean… I guess my brother _was_ a little older," she admitted. But she was quick to add, "But only by, like, a year. And only because Ricky was mom and dad's firstborn, and they were worried! But he told us that he was still one of the oldest kids at the entry level for the Torterra Guild at the time, and—"

"Wait a moment! Paula, did you say the Torterra Guild?" Chatot suddenly interjected. He, like Wigglytuff, had been gearing up in anger over the apparent malpractice of a fellow guild, but upon hearing the name of the guild in question, he felt nothing but confusion. "Paula, are you sure you have that name correct? I have _never_ seen an apprentice from the Torterra Guild who was younger than Bidoof's age—and even he would be right on the edge of acceptable!"

Paula rolled her eyes—her anxiety and confusion in the situation momentarily forget that she was standing in front of an authority figure whom she would normally show more respect to, if only to avoid a lecture on decorum. "Well I mean, yeah, _obviously_ they don't let you become an _apprentice_ until you've passed all your tests and things, and that can sometimes take years, but—"

"Squawk! Wait a moment, what—? Tests? I… _what_?" Chatot shared a bewildered look with the Guildmaster.

"That's… yes?" Paula said, seeming unsure now herself. "You know… for all the classes you have to take before you can move onto the explorer track?" At the duo's blank stare, she tried to break it down further. "The life skills classes? Where they teach you things like foraging, map-reading, tool making… stuff like that. Then, if you decided to join under the 'Exploration Team' track, if you pass all your tests, you get to actually call yourself 'Apprentice' for real, and do more of the explorer-specific training, instead of just the public stuff you get to do as a 'recruit' or 'member.'"

"The… the 'public stuff'?" Chatot questioned, still trying to wrap his mind around the information Paula was giving him.

Paula shrugged. "Yeah. I mean… not everyone who joins the guild wants to be an explorer. A lot of pokémon just want things like the life skill classes I just talked about, since they're also really helpful for people who want to be, like, shopkeepers or something. Or who travel a lot. Or who want to be able to mend their own scarves and blankets, or whatever. Stuff like that. They're really useful, so lots of pokémon join and graduate—but only the ones who go on to join the Exploration Team track actually get to say that they apprenticed under them."

This explanation did a lot to calm Wigglytuff and Chatot down from their earlier rage—although, rather than completely remove his agitation Chatot seemed to turn it more towards mumbling something about "inflated graduation rates" and "no wonder they seem to be everywhere" But while it might have dispelled some of the red flags regarding why Paula joined a guild at such a young age, there were still plenty of others—such as, "Why did you decide to join a guild so far from home, then?"

Paula rubbed the back of her neck, putting some serious thought into Wigglytuff's question. "I mean… I _did_ almost join the Torterra Guild. There are lots of good things about it! Some of the teachers I met with said I'd probably even be fast-tracked because of how good Ricky did, and how I already knew some of the stuff from when he accidentally sent us his homework, instead of letters. But… then I just would have been under his shadow for the whole time. I want to become an explorer on my _own_ merits!"

That was a familiar sentiment to Wigglytuff, and he spared a surreptitious glance towards his partner. Just as he'd thought, Chatot had frozen at the words, calming down slightly and fixing Paula with a sympathetic stare. He had his own brother issues after all. But Paula wasn't finished.

"Also… I mean, I was already considering your guild a little bit, too, Guildmaster Wigglytuff. Basically every explorer hopeful does! And all your graduates are always really great at exploring, and I wanted to focus more on the exploration stuff anyways. And then there was this dream I had, where…" she trailed off, blushing a little, "Um, I guess that part's not important… but anyways… that's why I decided to try and join here, instead."

"Yes, well, that's all perfectly understandable," Chatot suddenly cut in, preening a bit at the praise. "We are a very prestigious institution, after all! But," he calmed down and gave her a serious look, "Paula… you do realize that most guilds do not actually offer classes of that sort… yes?"

Paula looked stunned; apparently, she had _not_, in fact, realized this. Chatot's eye started twitching a bit. "In fact… most guilds expect you to join with those skills already in hand. There is no 'recruit' or 'member' phase before you can become an apprentice. When you join, you are an apprentice from the start. And, from the sounds of things, in terms of _actual_ apprentice work, the Torterra guild is not too far off in terms of expectations—they still require their apprentices to know certain skills beforehand, skills which take years to learn.

"So, Paula… if you thought that you would be spending a few years on classwork before you started exploration work in earnest… then why didn't you _say_ anything when the first thing I had you do was take an actual job off the job board, rather than giving you any of those lessons?"

Paula blushed even harder. "I kind of, um… I thought that maybe that was your version of an entrance exam? Like… you were gauging how good we already were as explorers, and since we successfully completed the mission, it meant you were fast-tracking us?" Chatot just stared at her. "But I guess… that's not what you were doing?"

Chatot's wings met his face, and he started muttering again about backfiring plans. If Wigglytuff hadn't wanted to keep up a calm, assuring persona in front of Team Rainbow, he would have winced in sympathy at Chatot's plight. After all, Wigglytuff well-remembered the discussion he and Chatot had after the whole Star Cave incident regarding Bidoof, and the way they'd been handling training their apprentices up until that point. Paula's assumption about them having an entrance exam of sorts wasn't exactly unwarranted… it's just that until Team Rainbow had joined, it had never been quite so formalized, or focused on the outright "exploring" aspect of their line of work.

Normally when Team Perfect Apple admitted new recruits to their guild, they conducted a sort of "observation period" to see what sort of skills the pokémon came in with, the areas they were most in need of improvement, if there was anything in particular they already excelled at… things like that. This typically took the form of assigning some menial tasks and then observing them as they completed them. It was surprising the sort of information one could glean from such things if they were truly paying attention. For example… having a new recruit run small errands for the other apprentices involving fetching them specific items let Chatot and Wigglytuff know how good the new recruit's skills were when it came to identifying the differences in seeds and berries—after all, it would be terrible for an explorer to think they'd stocked up on Reviver Seeds or Oran Berries when, instead, they'd accidentally packed their look-alikes! Sending a recruit to Kecleon Market in order to check their stock helped gauge things such as memorization and information retention, since while they would be sent out with a list, they would still have to remember the responses of the proprietors—or, if they were extremely clever recruits, they might think outside the box and bring a writing implement to scribble down the answers on the back of the list. Then, of course, there were the tasks such as general maintenance, which told the Guildmaster and his Head of Intelligence anything from whether or not the recruit knew how to sew, to their physical fitness levels. Once the duo had a baseline, they could begin implementing specific training programs and slowly begin sending the recruits out into the field, where these basic skills would provide a firm foundation as they started proper exploring.

It also let them see what other areas would need improvement. For instance, while Loudred was incredibly strong and could rattle off the exploration basics if directly asked, putting such things into practice had… mixed results. He was often impatient, and went a bit too much with gut feelings instead of taking a moment to plan, or think things through. Not to mention that his brain to mouth filter wasn't the greatest. But, depending on what sort of work he wanted to specifically focus on after graduating, some of these skills would be… not "less important," per say, but less often used. This was why they had offered him the chance to take the graduation exam last year, after Sunflora turned the opportunity down. It wasn't entirely surprising that he'd failed—their guild had strict expectations, after all, and it often took more than one attempt to pass successfully—but the fact that it had still been mostly due to his impatience meant that this was an area he needed to double down and improve on. So, Chatot and Wigglytuff had discussed it and opted to put him on sentry duty—where he would have to really think things through in regards to whether or not someone should be allowed into the guild, and where he would have to take the time to think before he spoke his mind when it came to assuaging the fears of panicking pokémon coming to the Wigglytuff Guild seeking assistance, or those who needed reassurance that, yes, their friends and family really had been found safely and would be returning soon. As well as, of course, maintaining the proper dignity and respect when faced with officials like Officer Magnezone or his deputies, or other esteemed visitors to the guild. For the most part, it appeared to be working… although recent events—specifically with some of the things the Big Voice pokémon had said or implied about Laura on this last expedition—made Wigglytuff think that he had backslid a little, and that he and Chatot needed to actually sit him down and spell it out for him why he'd been put near-permanently on sentry duty in the first place.

In any case… this system had worked just fine until Bidoof joined the guild. Now, to be perfectly fair to Bidoof, part of the problems he'd had stemmed from the fact that while the Bibarel-line did ultimately end up as both Normal- and Water-type… their skill set when it came to daily living typically geared more towards life on the water. But since they _could_ comfortably spend time on land, many of them tended to have unrealistic expectations for what life was like for those living there full-time. This was especially true among the young—and, considering that Bidoof himself was just _barely_ at an age any sane or reasonable pokémon would reasonable for someone to start exploration, he was definitely counted in that category. This meant that there were a lot of skills he didn't have, simply because he wouldn't have thought he'd need them—or, in cases such as berry identification, because he hadn't realized that there was more for him to know.

Although, really, his biggest issue upon joining had been his stamina and mobility. While the Bibarel line was surprisingly agile in the water—considering their size and seeming lack of aquatic appendages—they couldn't really move all that quickly on the land. While this typically wasn't a problem for them, since, again, most of their time was spent in the water, what Bidoof hadn't considered when choosing to join the Wigglytuff guild was that most of his exploration work and training would be taking place in dungeons where water was scarce—at least in terms of being able to swim in it. Corphish actually had a similar problem when he first joined, if to a lesser degree. While the Crawdaunt-line shared general habitats with that of the Bibarel-line, Corphish in particular had lived beneath the waves given that his father was apparently from a different species-line, one that needed to live underwater full time. As such, Corphish already knew from the start that life on land would likely be very different than life underwater, even if he couldn't quite manage to imagine what it would actually be like. In preparation for this, he'd tried to learn all he could and keep an open mind about things so that he could quickly learn about everything else. With no preconceived notions, and the knowledge that there was a lot he didn't know, he was able better able to outright ask for information and help, and to admit from the start that there was a lot he needed to learn. With Bidoof, however, since he _had_ lived partially on land his whole life, he'd had a lot more misconceptions about the wider world that weren't as easily shrugged off. This meant that he ran into the issue of not knowing the sorts of things he didn't know—meaning that he came in with fewer skills and had a harder time when it came to asking about what sorts of things he should know or learn, even after getting the physical aspects down.

With Corphish, they could start to send him out on easy missions once his physical abilities had improved enough since he knew enough about the other subjects that it would only be a benefit to him, even if he didn't know absolutely _everything_ that could prove useful. Heck, at that point, he still hadn't known _most_ things that he would need to in the long run. But when it came to Bidoof… he'd started at a disadvantage on both fronts, and it had been long enough since Corphish had passed that point (coupled with a few nasty incidents in those early days that led them to regret sending him out as soon as they did and that had made them even more wary when it came to planning for Bidoof) that they hadn't really realized they'd kept Bidoof back from the more hands-on aspects of exploration work for far longer than they should have until he decided to rebel and had almost gotten seriously hurt during the whole Star Cave thing.

With that in mind, when it came to Team Rainbow's observation period, Chatot had suggested—and Wigglytuff had agreed—that they should let them try and fulfill a simple job request from day one, and then to gauge how they did from there. If they happened to fail, then not only would it help establish a baseline for them as far as Wigglytuff and Chatot were concerned, but it would also hopefully teach the girls that they weren't ready yet for the hands-on work, which would hopefully keep them from getting as impatient or disheartened as Bidoof did.

Except Paula and Laura succeeded with aplomb—and even more so the next day when they successfully defeated their first outlaw with no outside help, despite the fact that Chatot had intended for Bidoof to go along with them after helping them pick a job, as outlaw missions could be tricky for new recruits. The two achieved success after success, and while normally that would be something to applaud… considering what they knew now, Chatot had a point about the plan backfiring spectacularly.

Given everything they had achieved so far, is was clear to Wigglytuff that these girls, like him, were exploration prodigies. But the fact that they were prodigies with so many successes behind them only served to mask the very real issues they were facing. If one didn't know their true ages… just looking at the surface level, it seemed that the two of them were just your average recruit. Perhaps below average, even, for how naïve and ignorant they could be about common exploration topics. But that wasn't the case at all; yes, there was a lot they didn't know, but that was in no way their fault. They were _literally_ _children_. There was no way they would have had the _time_ to learn everything they needed to know. But because they were prodigies and Paula had admitted to having access to a few higher level bits of learning via her brother, let alone whatever skills Laura had brought to the table, the two of them were able to effectively pool their resources enough to make it look as though they had more training than they actually did. Furthermore, with Paula's explanations of the Torterra Guild and her expectations going into the Wigglytuff Guild… it made sense why neither of them would have asked for additional lessons or training. He and Chatot thought the girls already knew the basics, while Paula assumed that since neither he nor Chatot had brought it up it meant they thought Team Rainbow hadn't _needed_ to know more than they already did. And given Laura's still unaddressed amnesia issues, it was unclear how much she actually knew about guilds in general, let alone what sorts of expectations she would have had at the start of training.

Wigglytuff nodded to himself as the pieces clicked together to form a clearer picture of what happened. Assuming it was all true—and Wigglytuff didn't really have any reason to doubt that it was—it made complete sense why a parent would allow their child to join at such a young age. There was one thing that still bothered him, though…

The Balloon pokémon clapped his hands together, bringing everyone's attention back to him. "Well, now that _that's_ been cleared up, it makes perfect sense why friendly-friend Paula would have come all this way to join us at such a young age—especially if your parents thought the same too! But…" his gaze turned serious again, unnerving Paula enough that she actually gulped in apprehension. "That _still_ doesn't explain why they would have let you come here all on your lonesome. After all, friendly-friend Diglett said he'd seen your footprint lots of times before you and Laura actually joined us, Paula. Enough times that it had to have been _weeks_ since you'd arrived in town—meaning that you would have been _alone_ for all that time." The _"And having to fend for yourself for all that time when that is _never_ a child's job"_ part went unsaid.

But it didn't go unheard, because Paula picked it up immediately and tried to go for a world-record in "most blushes within the hour" when the rest of her face turned as red as her cheeks once more. "Oh, yeah, that's mostly on me."

Wigglytuff raised a skeptical brow.

"Okay, so, my parents _did_ want to escort me here, but I thought it would be kind of… embarrassing. I'm kind of the baby of the family, and they can get really fussy and just… uh… a bit _much_ when it comes to my accomplishments. Like… right after I evolved, they wanted to throw some sort of big party, and I just—" she shook her head, as if trying to dispel an embarrassing memory. "—Anyways! The point is that I convinced them not to come. But they were still really worried, so they made Ricky escort me as a compromise. But I mean… he's, well, _him_, so it would have been _even more _embarrassing if he'd come in with me. So, I told him that I would be fine if he just left me at the crossroads, especially since his team probably had a lot of missions to do that they needed their leader for. But then after I made it to the grate I kind of… chickened out a little. Or… a lot." She winced. But then she turned to her partner, a huge smile on her face, "But then I met Laura, and we decided to join together!"

The explanation and accompanying smile eased a lot of the guildmaster's fears. It still wasn't _great_ that Paula had been left to fend for herself during that period of time, but coupled with the rest of her explanations, and how bright, happy, and—most importantly—healthy she'd been upon finally joining his guild, it probably meant that Paula's situation wasn't nearly as bad as Wigglytuff had been fearing after learning her true age. Even considering her early evolution… well, there wasn't really a tactful way to bring it up anyways, especially in the face of everything else they'd learned. But considering her sincerity about everything, he was willing to believe there was a reasonable explanation for that as well. After all, it wasn't like there hadn't been _any_ cases of a pichu evolving young in perfectly benign circumstances—it was just rare for one to both gain the knowledge and experience necessary and then form a close enough bond that quickly when there wasn't something… _else…_ hastening it along. But given Paula's stories about studying her brother's homework, it was clear that, if given the chance, Paula could happily devote time to learning of her own volition. Also, considering how close she had become with Laura—close enough to form a team and partnership, even—after only knowing her for such a brief period of time, he could easily see Paula having formed a close enough friendship with someone to act as a catalyst in her younger days.

But, speaking of Laura…

"What's the next issue?"

All eyes turned to the treecko in the room. She briefly looked away under the scrutiny of her Guildmaster and his Head of Intelligence's gazes, but then she gripped her team's Treasure Bag harder for a moment, seeking comfort, and continued, "You said that Paula's situation was simpler, and considering what else we learned from Uxie, I'm guessing the next thing we're going to talk about is _me_, but…" she looked away again, shrinking back slightly, "…since I can't remember my past, I don't really know why I was alone on the beach when Paula found me, or about what my home life was like."

"Well, yes, that is among our concerns," Chatot acknowledged, "but more importantly…" he trailed off with a wince, unsure how to continue.

Paula shuffled closer to her partner, leaning against her shoulder a little to provide moral support as Laura looked between Chatot and Wigglytuff in trepidation. The mystery _was_ definitely concerning, since, as far as Wigglytuff knew, humans aged at around the same rate as pokémon and were just as protective and nurturing as them when it came to their children. Even disregarding the weirdness of the species change—which was a concerning mystery in and of itself, but one which they were unlikely to solve any time soon given that even Uxie, who was so knowledgeable and had literally looked inside her head for answers had no idea—there were not many circumstances which could be deemed "good" which would leave a child as young as Laura in such a lonely, vulnerable position. Especially considering that she had amnesia, since there were even _fewer_ circumstances in which such a condition could be deemed as "good."

But that wasn't the most important thing at the moment, and, even as it pained him to say it, the question had to be asked: "Laura," Chatot finally continued, putting as much gentleness into his voice as he could, "do you actually… _want_ to be here?"

Laura blinked in obvious confusion, and Chatot started wincing again, as if it physically pained him to have to clarify his meaning. "That is… do you actually _want_ to be an apprentice at the guild?"

Laura still looked confused, but hesitantly answered, "Y-yes…?"

But everyone in the room could sense how unsure that answer was—including her partner, whose eyes suddenly widened as she looked towards the treecko in shock and… guilt? As if suddenly realizing something for the first time. Given what Paula just told them about her past, and her obvious dedication to the vocation considering she was willing to devote herself to it so young, it was a feeling Wigglytuff could sympathize with. It was always hard the first time you were confronted with the fact that not everyone was as interested or passionate about exploring as you were; the fact that friends who had decided to become teachers or shopkeepers did so not because they felt themselves ill-suited to the work of exploration and thought that this was a better way for them to contribute to help other explorers, but because their _actual_ passions were, in fact, shop-keeping or teaching. The fact that it wasn't just unavoidable or important duties which kept pokémon out of the field, but that there were some pokémon who were, at best, indifferent to exploring and, at worst, outright hated it. It had to be an even harder realization to face that it was entirely possible that one's best friend also fell into those latter categories, at least to some degree. But considering how dangerous being on an Exploration Team could be—how dangerous it had already proved to be, for these two (because even though Uxie's Groudon illusion was just that, an _illusion_, it was _still_ an incredibly realistic and dangerous foe, considering how effective it had been up until that point at keeping visitors away from Fogbound Lake, and it wasn't something that two kids should have had to deal with—_especially_ not on their own. And that wasn't even getting into the fact that they had apparently been targeted by Team Skull—more than once, if their behaviors while interacting with them while the trio was staying at the guild were any implication).

"I mean," Laura's voice grew quieter and even more unsure and faltering, as was typical for her when placed unexpectedly into the spotlight, "Paula's my friend, and we work well together… and she's helped me out so much and… so when she asked… when she needed help… how could I say _no_?" Laura looked around, confused and desperate, trying to meet first Chatot's eyes—which were turned away, his face an expression of deep pain despite how hard he was trying to hide it for young Laura's sake—then Paula's—though she quickly turned away herself after seeing the absolute _devastation_ in the pikachu's eyes—and finally Wigglytuff's.

Though it was one of the hardest things he'd ever had to do (because, how, _how_ could he have missed something like this? The entire reason he'd let her join his guild in the first place was because he'd sensed she'd needed help, and yet when it came down to _actually helping_ her…), he met her seeking gaze dead-on, his own eyes as gentle and apologetic as he could make them.

"It's _great_ that you wanted to help your friend," he assured her, pleased as some of the tension drained out of her frame. "But that's not what Chatot and I are concerned about." He leaned back a little in thought. "Hm… How to put this… Okay. So, you know what we were just worried about with Paula, right? About how she was left on her own, and how we were worried that her being here as young as she was meant that she didn't have anyone back home she could rely on?" He waited for Laura's hesitant nod before continuing, "Well, it's the same sort of thing for you, friendly-friend; we're worried that the only reason you joined is because you felt like you didn't have any other options."

At the dual wince Team Rainbow gave—each colored by their own varying shades of guilt and shame—Wigglytuff gave a sad little sigh. "I understand that things were probably really hard for you then, and that you didn't know what to do. And, again, it really is admirable how you were willing to help out your new friend like that! But… it seems like most of Paula's struggles when it came to finally joining us was that she needed a little boost of courage to take those last few steps and actually stay and stand firm until Loudred opened the gates. And… I can see how your amnesia might have meant that you didn't really know what being on an exploration team really _meant_ at first," he paused as she gave another little wince. "But, Laura… after being with us a few days, and seeing how we worked and what sorts of things we did… surely you knew that if you'd just asked us for help, we would have given it to you… right? You know you don't have to trade working for us—putting yourself into danger on a daily basis—for help… right?"

Laura's face grew red, and she mumbled something too low for Wigglytuff to hear. But apparently Chatot heard it, as he finally stopped wincing at the absolute shock of it and whipped around to face her. "I'm sorry, could you please repeat that?!"

Laura's face grew even redder as she gave a little cough and repeated, in a voice barely louder than her previous attempt but just loud enough for Wigglytuff to hear this time, "I mean… it does seem like most of the clients offer rewards for work… and since I wouldn't really have any money or anything if I wasn't taking jobs, I just…"

She trailed off into mumbling again, but it was enough for Wigglytuff to get the gist of what she meant. The thought of it made him feel a little sick, and even more worried about this precious child than he already was.

Chatot flapped his wings to get her attention, looking a little queasy himself. "Laura, I know that in the past I may have seemed a bit, ah, _too concerned_, shall we say, with the state of the guild's coffers and reputation and… things of the like. But I _assure_ you: we—and _any_ self-respecting guild or explorer—would _never_ turn someone away who needed help because we didn't think they pay us for it! In fact, payment is _never_ a prerequisite for asking for our help! And beyond that," his eyes turned serious, "you are a _child_. Even if we _hadn't_ already assumed a duty of care for you when you signed on as an apprentice, you _still_ would have been able to depend on us for assistance simply because children should _never_ be forced to fend for themselves. That's the job of the adults—whether or not they also happen to be excellent explorers. Do you understand?"

She didn't entirely look like she did, honestly, but… she looked like maybe she could start trying to. It was enough for Chatot to be able to give an exasperated sigh and say, "Well, whether or not you understand, can you at least believe me that, whether you actually want to be an explorer or not, we of the Wigglytuff Guild will still take care of you until you decide you want to leave? And that even then, we will still ensure that you are in a safe place before we actually leave you entirely?"

She looked much more confidant at this, and gave a little nod. The two adults in the room all but sagged in relief, and Chatot said, "With that in mind, I'll ask again: Do you actually want to be here, to be an explorer?"

Laura took a moment to actually consider it, this time. Her eyes were thoughtful, and she even went so far as to put her hand on her chin. "I think… I don't actually know," she truthfully admitted. "I mean… I like exploring—especially when I get to do it with Paula," she stopped here to give her partner a quick grin, which was tearfully returned—it seemed as though Paula had gone through her own whirlwind of emotions during Chatot and Wigglytuff's explanations, especially in regards to feeling guilty that she might have dragged Laura into a life that she actually hated because of her own selfish dream of being an explorer, when it was obvious that Laura was in need of serious help. She still felt kind of guilty about everything, but Laura's assurance that she did, in fact, enjoy exploring helped lighten her heart a little, and she vowed that whatever Laura's answer, she would do her best to support her.

"And," Laura continued, unaware of Paula's silent convictions, "I like hanging out with everyone every day, and getting to learn from them, but as for the future… I don't really know. Maybe one day I'll hear about a job or something that I really want to do instead, or," she paused again, giving a little shrug, "maybe if Uxie's right and I _do_ get my memories back in a few years, I'll remember that there's a job that I'd already decided I really wanted to do, but just can't remember right now. …Assuming it's even a job I _could_ still do, considering I'm not human any more, and I don't know if I ever will be again. But… I think for right now, at least, I want to continue being an apprentice," she finally decided. But then she seemed unsure of herself again, toeing the ground and shyly asking, "Is… is that okay? Even if I change my mind later?"

It was everything Wigglytuff could do to hold in his sigh of relief, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't hold back his smile. That was all right, though—he was known for his happy smiles, and this was definitely something to be happy about. "Of _course_ it is, friendly-friend! We'd love to have you stay and learn with us, for however long you'd like to! But!" he said suddenly, cutting off her own sigh of relief and making her choke on air a little. "That _does_ bring us to the third issue we need to discuss."

Team Rainbow shared a confused look before Paula blinked and her expression cleared as the likely topic hit her. "Right, now we have to talk about hiding the Time Gear!"

"Er, well… yes and no," Chatot said, drawing their once-more confused gazes towards him. "That is part of it, yes, but more importantly… do you recall what I said about the Torterra Guild being an outlier in terms of offering classes to recruits as part of guild membership?"

"Yes…?" Paula said, still confused, before she realized something and her ears drooped in sadness. "Oh… so since the Wigglytuff Guild doesn't offer them, and you weren't actually giving us an entrance exam, you're saying that we'd need to leave and take those classes first before coming back and joining again as apprentices?" she hazarded a guess. But then she scrunched her nose in confusion once more. "But, wait, you just said that Laura could still stay here as an apprentice, even if she wasn't sure she wanted to be an explorer when she grew up. So how would that…?"

"Well, yes, that's where the Time Gear complicates things." Chatot explained. "Normally, that would be exactly the case—considering the way you described those lessons from the Torterra Guild, the skills involved are vital ones for explorers to have, and ones which we for the most part expect our recruits to already have a firm foundation in. That doesn't always happen, admittedly," he trailed off a little, thinking back once more on the Bidoof situation, before he shook his head free of the memories and continued, "but in that case we would expect the recruit to either do a self-study in order to gain those skills, or to ask us or another apprentice for help directly. Considering our focus as a guild, we are not really equipped to handle large numbers of blank-slate apprentices. At the same time, however… it's not exactly safe to send either of you away from the guild, at the moment."

"Huh? Why not?" Paula asked.

But Laura was the one to answer. "Because of the Time Gear, right?" she guessed.

"Exactly right, Laura," Chatot confirmed. "If Uxie was right about the thief already knowing where they're hidden, then if they went to Fogbound Lake and found the Time Gear missing… even though no one in the guild would reveal that we now have custody over it, the fact that we recently went on an expedition to Foggy Forest is well-known. It wouldn't be out of the question for them to assume we had some information on what happened to it. From there, it would be simple for them to find out the identities of the guild members, especially since the entire guild went on the expedition. And if the two of you suddenly left the guild… well, even if that wasn't suspicious enough on its own, it would still be far too much of a risk that the thief could track either of you down and, well…" He shuddered, and the girls shuddered along with him. The implications alone were terrible enough without needing them to be spelled out.

"But… since you don't normally take apprentices as young as we are, wouldn't it also be suspicious if we stayed?" Paula asked.

Chatot shook his head. "It shouldn't be. It's a bit unusual yes, but… well, considering how adept the two of you are already at exploring, I believe it is safe to say that you could be considered prodigies. Considering that our esteemed Guildmaster is _also_ a prodigy, it makes a certain amount of sense that he would be interested and accepting of teaching others like himself."

The girls blushed at the praise, but Chatot took no notice as he continued, his tone more businesslike, "That being said, there _will_ have to be a few changes in your schedules. As good as you two are, we cannot, in good conscience, keep sending you out for missions until we are assured that you have the basics down. Honestly, I'm not sure why I didn't notice sooner that there were areas where the two of you were sorely lacking in your educations. The Apple Woods fiasco, for one, should have been a major tip-off! So, we will have to make sure that the two of you are properly educated, so that you can become top-notch explorers! Of course, assuming that's what the two of you still want to do in the future. We've discussed your feelings on the matter already, Laura, but the same applies to you as well, Paula! If at any point you change your mind, we will make sure that you are safely settled somewhere else, or back at your home—after the current crisis is resolved, of course. And in either case, Laura, we will do our best to help you figure out your past—after all, there is a chance that Uxie's theories are incorrect, and even if they aren't, you still shouldn't have to wait years to find that out if there's any chance we could find the answers in the meantime."

Paula, who had bristled at the Apple Woods comment, calmed down by the end of Chatot's speech. She didn't believe that she would ever want to be anything other than an explorer, but… it was still nice to know he was at least giving her the option. "Thank you, Chatot," she said, her partner nodding in agreement.

Wigglytuff suddenly clapped his hands, startling everyone in the room. "It's so great that we've got that settled now!" he exclaimed once he had everyone's attention. "But now we really _should_ take care of the Time Gear. Laura, if you could bring it over here?"

The Grass-type still seemed a bit reluctant to part with the precious artifact, but she did ultimately nod in assent and take it out of the bag, heading over towards Wigglytuff. He took it from her, and then moved over to one of the many treasure chests in the room. "We'll make some more formal plans later, but it wouldn't hurt to start teaching you a bit now. Let's start with a lesson on finding treasure," he said as he opened the chest and then started sifting through some of the treasures inside.

"Now, the best way to find treasure is to first know how to _hide_ it. A lot of times when you see something like a chest or a map, there will be secret tests or traps involved. Like maybe the map will be coated in a false layer with incorrect directions, or there will be a bunch of different fake traps in a room, or the room will have a solution which seems really obvious but is actually a cover for a different sort of trap. I came across lots of those when I was just starting out! Actually, it might be good for you to hear that story—there's a lot in it that we can apply to now. Hm… where to start…? I guess the best place should be on that peaceful prairie, back when I was still just Igglybuff…"


End file.
